WAYANAD: The central team for assessing the impact of natural calamities visited the landslide-hit areas of the district on Wednesday.
District collector A.R. Ajayakumar, who presented a report on the rain havoc, informed them that 49 villages were hit and 19 people were killed in the district.
It displaced 38,779 people from 10,077 families to relief camps as the district received more than double the seasonal rains this year. Devastating landslides took place at Puthumala, Vellarimala, Mangalassery, Perincherymala, Narikkuni, Manichuvad, Muttilmala, Pachakkad, Meenmutti, Kurumbalakkotta and Kurichiarmala.
As many as 472 houses were destroyed and 7,230 damaged.
Accompanied by Mr Ajayakumar and sub-collector N.S.K. Umesh, they visited Puthumala in Meppadi panchayat first where 17 people lost their lives in landslides.
The officials and members of the rescue teams examined the entire area including houses, buildings and institutions destroyed. They also walked up to Pachilakkad and collected information from officials regarding the possibility of recurring disasters.
The team led by joint secretary of home ministry Sree Prakash included K. Manoharan, director of the agriculture department, joint director of the finance ministry, S. C. Meena and deputy director of power ministry O. P. Suman.
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority hazard analyst Dr Sreeja, Meppadi village panchayat president K.K. Sahad, district soil conservation officer P.U. Das, DFO P. Ranjithkumar and others accompanied them.
The team had visited the flood-affected areas in Malappuram district on Tuesday. They will submit a report to the Union government on damages to the infrastructure, crops and livestock.
The team which arrived at Calicut airport in the morning attended a meeting of officials of different departments in the district in Manjeri and reviewed the flood relief works in the region.
District collector Jafar Malik presented a detailed report on losses in the district. District police chief U. Abdul Kareem, deputy collectors P. N. Purushothaman and J. O. Arun and officials attended the meeting.
